Entering points using lats and longs

[ESchomberg]

Dear friends, I am working on a lidar job that has pre selected points.

Is there a way to enter points into civil3d by lat and long, and then list the lat and long next to the point?

Is it also possible to do the same with northing, easting and elevation?

Thank you.

[C3D_TomR]

@ESchomberg

There are several ways to "import" lat long coordinates into a Civil 3D drawing. Since you mentioned Lidar data, do you have an ASCII formatted file that contains the points to be imported? If so, then I recommend:

1. Assign the coordinate system to your drawing as described here: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-map-3d/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/EN...
2. Specify any grid to ground settings for this project as described here: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/civil-3d/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/ENU/Civi...
3. Create a point file format that matches the format of your ASCII point file similar to the one shown here: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/civil-3d-forum/import-points-with-long-and-lat/m-p/2949366/highlight/...
4. Import the points using the point file format that you created: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/civil-3d/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2019/ENU/Civi...
5. Create a point label styles based on what you want to see as described in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rRbpQ69kZ8
6. Now that you have your point styles created, change the point styles assigned to the _All Points point group and force overrides if necessary to apply the label style to all points in the drawing as described here: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/civil-3d/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Civi...

[Pointdump]

Erik,

In addition to Tom's excellent advice, you can also use the Geodetic Calculator or Map Tracks:

Dave

[autoMick]

Hi, I took it that you were talking about manually entering cogo points?

I did a screencast, which was quicker than trying to explain it. Notice that you can enter the points in different formats using 'LL or 'NE for example. You can also enter as decimals or using d ' and " or even mix it up if needed.

Regarding displaying the point label - just have 2 text elements in the label as shown

I hope this helps

Mick

Screencast will be displayed here after you click Post.

1cf72633-adeb-41d7-81a1-440cb308f2b4

[autoMick]

Dave you are a funny man!

thanks for the like! Clearly I have no idea how to actually insert screencasts. Maybe this one works?

BTW you might notice the point location is different to what I actually entered - I just entered a random point, but I should've entered a point location that was actually within my geolocation projection for it to work properly. 

Cheers

Mick

Screencast will be displayed here after you click Post.

ecb2e0fc-9cba-4a23-a4c1-f33778fd5f9a

[autoMick · Accepted solution]

Seriously... just kill me now! 4th attempt.

[Pointdump]

Mick,

Screencast is agravatingly unpredictable. I haven't been able to use it since I got a 4K laptop and monitor.

Dave

[ESchomberg]

Hey, Mr. thank you for the screen cast, I have the feeling that you know what I am looking for. I am working 24/7 lately, I will look at it as soon as possible. Thank you.

[ESchomberg]

Hey Dave, thanks for those new commands, I can't wait to try them out.

[ESchomberg]

Hey Tom, I don't mean to sound like a newb but I do not know where the status bar/coordinate system/library is....I would like to be able to find it, however I set up my coordinate system by right clicking on my drawing under settings. I would love to find out a new way to do it.

I will try to make this short as possible. I basically have 300 lidar points on my tablet, but this gets confusing to keep up with as points get shot. So basically I wanted to use my list of points left to be shot, zoom in to my kmz file on my tablet, write down the lat and long. I then wanted to enter the lat and long in as points on civil3d so that I could print out only the points left to be shot. I was not given a file to download so I wanted to enter them manually. I did however figure out that you can click a random point on the screen, left click, right click, edit points and manually change the lat and long in edit points. However I figured there had to be an easier way. Thank you for your input.

[ESchomberg]

Thank you Mr auto Mick...This is what I was looking for. There were quite a few steps you went through so I will have to study this screen cast several times pausing it. I am glad I posted this, I always learn something new.

[autoMick]

@ESchomberg I'm glad it helps. When I viewed the screencast I notice that I might be going a bit quick in some spots, so my apologies. As with everything in Civil3d, there's a number of ways to achieve things, but this is my way. You can type in decimal lat longs as well i.e. -28.5 is 26D30'00" south.

Point labeling takes a while to get your head around anchor location on the point, vs. anchor location on the text, and the fact that you can have multiple elements (mine has 2). You can also have non-text elements in a label too, such as a line, etc.

Good luck

Mick

[ESchomberg]

Yeah, you did great. Enough for me to study and figure it out. However when you start talking about degrees vs deg min and sec that confuses the heck out of me. I am a land surveyor so I am familiar with deg min and sec, I just have never understood how degrees only translates into deg min sec..

[autoMick]

@ESchomberg I'm not sure I follow what you're asking, but for example, a latitude of -10.75 is 10 and 3/4 degrees south, which is the same as 10 degrees 45 minutes south (45 minutes being 3/4 of a degree). A second is 1/60 of a minute (or 1/3600 of a degree), so can be converted to decimals if needed.

Cheers

Mick